One lakh homes to be built for the poor in city

48,000 apply online

The state government will soon construct one lakh homes for the poor in Bengaluru, for which 48,000 online applications have already been received, H D Kumaraswamy said on Monday.

The chief minister used the inauguration of various works in the Mahalakshmi Layout assembly constituency to spell out his government’s plans to overhaul Bengaluru’s road and transport infrastructure. He spoke about the Rs 23,000-crore suburban rail, the Rs 17,000-crore peripheral ring road and the Rs 24,000-crore elevated corridor projects.

Kumaraswamy also launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that unlike Modi, he would not make false promises.

Mocking the Central government’s Kisan Samman Yojana, Kumaraswamy said Modi didn’t speak of farmers in the past five years but had suddenly become concerned about their welfare ahead of elections.

He went on to make a comparison between the money being spent by Central and state governments on different areas of rural livelihood. While the state government is giving Rs 2,500 crore to rural women milking cows and another Rs 11,5000 crore to farmers for IP sets, the prime minister has announced just Rs 6,000 crore for farmers, he said.

Kumaraswamy said the state had merged its health protection schemes — Aarogya Bhagya and Yeshasvini — with the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana. While the state is spending Rs 130 crore, the Centre’s contribution is a paltry Rs 22 crore. “The prime minister is marketing Ayushman Bharat as his own scheme. The money is coming from the state government and the name is of Modi,” he added.